RETIRED: Prenatal Screening for Fetal Aneuploidy

A Current Landscape of Provincial Perinatal Data Collection in Canada

“…Induction of labour 15 Similarly, Keenan-Lindsay and Yudin have advised that all women should be offered HIV screening at their first prenatal visit (I-A) 16 ; however, APHP and NLPPP do not collect this information. Moreover, the use of MgSO 4 as prophylaxis against, and treatment of, eclampsia in women with severe preeclampsia (I-A 17 ) is only collected by NSAPD and PEIRCP (as a yes/no question).…”

Wrongful birth litigation and prenatal screening

“…3,4 Clinical practice guidelines can reduce successful malpractice actions through physician education and they may be used in court as evidence that the standard of care was met. 5,6 The 2007 clinical practice guidelines on prenatal screening for fetal aneuploidy 7 have expanded the potential for successful wrongful birth litigation and have set a new standard for family physicians, obstetricians, laboratory physicians, radiologists, geneticists, midwives, registered nurses, genetic counselors and ultrasound technicians.…”

“…The guidelines include the recommendation that all pregnant women be offered prenatal screening, rather than just women aged 35 years or more (Box 1), 7,8 the age at which the risk of losing a fetus as a complication of an amniocentesis is equal to the risk of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. 7 This recommendation was in response to the observation that 56% of women who give birth to a child with Down syndrome are under 35 years of age. 7 New sensitive and noninvasive screening strategies have made this recommendation possible.…”

“Eugenics” By Another Name?

“…Trisomy 21[Down syndrome]). 1 Unlike most suggestions regarding clinical practice formulated by professional groupings, these guidelines have generated coverage by the national lay press and public controversy. [2][3][4] Careful examination of the content of this guideline and the relevant issues touched upon may reveal why such controversy has occurred.…”

“…9 For fetal aneuploidy no such antenatal treatment exists except for the termination of the affected pregnancy. 1 It is not the lessening of morbidity that is sought, but rather its complete elimination. Elimination of a defective gene/chromosome improves the genetic quality of the population as a whole and thus merits the label of "eugenics",…”